The Spring Festival was successfully nominated for World Heritage, but “they” are arguing! Who should be credited for this achievement?

The Spring Festival has become a hot topic even before it arrives - the application for this most important traditional festival of the Chinese people to be listed as a world heritage site has been successful!

On December 4, the 19th regular session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO passed the review and decided to include "Spring Festival - The Social Practice of Chinese Celebrating the Traditional New Year" in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

On December 4, at the 19th regular session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in Asuncion, Paraguay, a Spring Festival promotional video was played on the big screen (Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhu Yubo)

When the news came, we were busy celebrating, but “they” were arguing: Spring Festival, such an important traditional Chinese festival, has become a world heritage, who should be credited for such a great contribution?

Dumpling Team : Spring Festival soul food, must be the chief

Dumplings are the first to come: "As the saying goes, 'food is the first necessity of the people'. The food of the Spring Festival is the soul of the Spring Festival. Dumplings play a very important role in the Spring Festival. Who doesn't eat dumplings on New Year's Eve?"

Speaking of the earliest dumplings in China, we must mention the "Xue State Dumplings" from the Spring and Autumn Period. In 1978, the then Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences excavated several tombs of the Xue State in Zhangwang Town, Teng County (now Tengzhou City), Shandong Province. In a tomb that may be that of the Marquis of Xue State, a set of bronze ritual vessels was unearthed. One of the bronze vessels, numbered M1:77, contained "densely arranged triangular pieces of food, with a layer of white powder on the surface, which was caused by mildew at the time. It disappeared as soon as the wind blew, revealing triangular pieces of food that looked like dumplings and had also been carbonized. They would break when gently poked with a bamboo stick."

Image source: "Report on the Exploration of the Ancient City of Xue State and the Excavation of Tombs"

Archaeologists believe that this tomb dates back about 2,500 years. Judging from the shape, the white triangular food may be dumplings, which may be the earliest dumplings with physical evidence of archaeological discoveries so far.

The status of the soul plus a long history

The Dumpling Team believes they have a sure win

Unexpectedly——

Tangyuan Team: We will dominate the southern Spring Festival table

"Your dumplings are somewhat popular in the north, but our tangyuan is well known in the south. Eating tangyuan brings families together." The question is, tangyuan wants to compete with dumplings for credit, but does it have the qualifications to win?

There are many things that look like glutinous rice balls in ancient books, from "Duke Zhou making glutinous rice balls" to laowan in the Western Jin Dynasty and "Tangzhonglaowan" in the Tang Dynasty... But they can only be said to be suspected of glutinous rice balls at best, and cannot be used as evidence of the qualifications of glutinous rice balls.

Jiaozi interjected a question at the right time: "Are there any unearthed cultural relics to prove the existence of glutinous rice balls?"

Tangyuan was disappointed when he heard this. So far, no "unearthed tangyuan" has been found. It was not until the Song Dynasty that the "floating tangyuanzi", the predecessor of tangyuan recognized by the academic community, appeared.

The poem “Poem on Cooking Floating Dumplings on Lantern Festival” written by Zhou Bi Da in the Song Dynasty may be the earliest poem in China that describes glutinous rice dumplings: “Who knows what night it is tonight? Reunion and everything else are the same. The soup cook is looking for the old taste, the kitchen maid is amazed at the new work. The stars are shining wrapped in dark clouds, and pearls are floating in the muddy water. I compile miscellaneous poems about the season and attach this to talk about family traditions.”

Tang Yuan felt that he had support.

result--

Spring Festival Couplets Team : I just want to ask you whether you will put them up during the Spring Festival

"You are too impatient, aren't you? We haven't even said anything about the Spring Festival couplets we are going to put up before New Year's Eve. What are you competing for with the glutinous rice dumplings on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival? You should just sit in the back row! The Spring Festival is such an important festival, and it carries people's blessings for spring. Dumplings and the like only satisfy the appetite, how dare they claim to be the soul? Besides, which festival can't we eat dumplings on? Dumplings are not a product exclusive to the Spring Festival, unlike Spring Festival couplets, which were created for the Spring Festival."

Spring Couplets walked up to the stage slowly and said elegantly: "Our 'Dunhuang Spring Couplets' were found in the Dunhuang Sutra Caves. On the back of the scroll numbered S.0610, there is a text record from before the late Tang Dynasty:

Year and day: The three Yangs begin to spread, and the four seasons begin to open.

Good fortune and happiness begin to grow, and longevity and wealth are extended.

The three yangs begin, and the four seasons bring auspiciousness.

May you have a happy new day and celebrate your longevity.

The days of the New Year and the beginning of spring are the times to hang peach charms; the sentences are in four-character and five-character parallelism, which conforms to the format of couplets; in addition, there is a clear explanation of "writing on the left and right of the door" in the text, so experts speculate that ours may be the earliest couplets found and preserved in China so far..."

Wait, this is controversial. In fact, some scholars believe that the Dunhuang Spring Festival Couplets are not Spring Festival Couplets. One of the earliest recognized Spring Festival Couplets is the couplet "New Year brings more happiness, and the festival is called Changchun" written by Meng Chang, the last emperor of Shu, which was recorded in "History of Song Dynasty" and other places. This couplet was created in 964 AD , nearly 200 years later than the "Dunhuang Spring Festival Couplets".

"Dunhuang Spring Festival Couplets" stunned on the stage

When I don’t know how to respond——

Taofu Team : Without my Taofu, there would be no Spring Festival couplets for you

Dong, dong, dong! A series of knocking sounds interrupted the "Dunhuang Spring Festival Couplets". Tao Fu came on stage with a loud voice: "This is what I have to ask, was the so-called 'Spring Festival Couplets' by Meng Chang written on paper? Of course not, it was written on the peach charms hanging outside the palace. In other words, the important origin of the Spring Festival Couplets may be the peach charms. Besides, peach charms have existed in the Western Han Dynasty, 1,800 years earlier than the 'Meng Chang Spring Festival Couplets'. We also have empirical evidence--"

Among the Juyan Han Dynasty bamboo slips unearthed from the Juyan beacon tower site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, there are several peach charms with human faces, which were probably used by the Han people to ward off evil spirits and evil spirits. These peach charms are square at the top and pointed at the bottom, making them easy to insert on the door.

"Without our Taofu, there would be no Spring Festival couplets at all?" Taofu was full of confidence, and his voice rose eight degrees. "Dunhuang Spring Festival Couplets" was so angry that his face turned red!

New Year's money team : conveying love and sending blessings

"Do you think that only peach charms can ward off evil?" The lucky money said slowly: "Although our lucky money is now a practical expense for children, it originally had the function of warding off evil and praying for blessings!"

Lucky money was originally called "Yan Sheng Money" or "Hua Hua Money ". It was not a circulating currency. Its original meaning was to ward off evil and pray for blessings and celebrate auspiciousness. Therefore, on the coins of Yan Sheng Money, you can often see auspicious words such as "avoid evil and welcome auspiciousness", "wealth and longevity", "abundant wealth", "peace and prosperity for the country and the people", as well as decorative patterns such as bats, dragons and phoenixes, peach branches, the sun and the moon that symbolize good wishes.

Winning money is not just empty talk

Look at the coin below!

Victory coins from the Western Han Dynasty (Photo source: Juye Museum official website)

From 1971 to 1977, a cliff tomb of the Western Han Dynasty was excavated in Hongtu Mountain, Juye County, Shandong Province. Experts speculated that it might be the tomb of Liu Bo, the King of Ai of Changyi during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. A coin of evil-repelling was found in the back chamber of the tomb. It was "round on the outside with a diamond-shaped hole in the middle. The four characters of 'Bi Bing Mo Dang' in small seal script were cast on the surface." "Bi Bing Mo Dang" means to get rid of evil and bring blessings, which is also the main purpose of the evil-repelling coin: to exorcise demons and ward off evil spirits.

Don't argue! Everyone has contributed! The Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals in my country, and is the crystallization of Chinese culture formed over a long period of time. It is precisely because of those historical moments that the deep historical origins of the Spring Festival can be connected, allowing the world to feel the footprints of this civilization that has lasted for thousands of years.

Author: Contributor to Beijing-Tianjin Science Magazine

Qu Qu is a member of the China Science Writers Association and the Jiangsu Science Writers Association.

Review expert: Song Yuanming Associate Professor of the Institute of History of Science and Cultural Heritage, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Deputy Director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Culture